The major thrust of this Gastroenterology Research Training Program is to prepare the M.D., Ph.D, M.D./Ph.D., post-doctoral fellow, and pre-doctoral student for a career as a physician/scientist and/or independent investigator in academic Gastroenterology. There are eight multi-faceted faculty to provide prospective trainees opportunities in contemporary approaches to cellular/molecular biology, oncogenesis, signal transduction pathways, virology, immunology, stem cell biology, and biochemistry. Faculty have been recruited from the Department(s) of Medicine, and Pediatrics, and from the Brown University Pathobiology and the Molecular and Cellular Biology (MCB) Program and all operate well-funded research programs (approximately $4.8 million annual direct costs). In this context, there is a major effort to provide opportunities in translational research at the Liver Research Center and Rhode Island Hospital. In these facilities, there is access to quantitative imaging, laser capture micro-dissection, genomics and proteomics, flow cytometry, transgenic animals, and human tissue banks. The pre-doctoral trainees are recruited from the Pathobiology and MCB Graduate Program(s), and enter with majors in biology, chemistry, and cell biology. These students have a commitment to basic research on the mechanisms of human disease. The Post-doctoral trainees are recruited from several sources including the graduate programs at Brown and elsewhere as well as those having completed the minimum of two years in the Brown University/Affiliated Hospital Clinical Adult and Pediatric Gastroenterology Fellowship Program. We request two postdoctoral M.D., M.D., Ph.D. or Ph.D. trainees who will devote two or three years to basic or translational research. The research effort will be 90% for M.D. or M.D./Ph.D, and 100% for Ph.D post-doctoral Fellows. There is a request for two pre-doctoral trainees enrolled in the M.D., M.D./Ph.D. or Ph.D. graduate programs at Brown University. The trainees are instructed in the responsible conduct of research and have the opportunity to develop communication and teaching skills during the training program. Both pre- and post-doctoral trainees are required to participate in didactic courses that are enriched by weekly research seminars, journal clubs, career development workshops, and symposia. There is a strong mentoring program to develop skills in communication, grantsmanship, interdisciplinary interactions, and the implementation of basic research approaches for the diagnosis and prevention of gastrointestinal diseases. The training program is committed to offering opportunities to minority pre- and postdoctoral trainees, and there is a robust program to recruit underrepresented minority candidates. Thus the Brown University/Lifespan Affiliated Hospital Program is designed to develop academic careers in Gastroenterology and Hepatology. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: This grant is a Training Program for diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and liver. Trainees are comprised of pre-doctoral and post-doctoral candidates with the MD, PhD, or both degrees. A major emphasis of the program is to train biomedical scientist and physician scientist using state of the art investigative techniques.